The answer is actually yes. My lab recently published a study in the "European Journal of Applied Physiology" where we optimized protein intake, but kept calories at maintenance in the subjects. We found that these highly trained subjects gained muscle and lost fat at the same time, with minimal change in their total bodyweight. In other words, training hardcore while on maintenance calories can actually shift your body to a more muscular, less fat appearance.
The premise for our study wasn't entirely new; it was the subjects who made it special. Up until recently, nearly all of the studies which overfed subjects were done in sedentary non-training subjects. The most-cited study to date took sedentary people and overfed them for days by 1, calories per day. The average body weight increase for the subjects during the overfeed was 17 pounds, of which 67 percent was fat, and only 33 percent was muscle mass.
My lab is the first to look at the impact of bulking in guys who were actually training hard. In addition to the above study, Sean McCleary headed up another study where we overfed subjects with either a moderate calories or an extreme 2, extra calories per day for 45 days. Subjects in our study also trained every body part to extreme levels several times per week.
We found that both groups increased their muscle mass by approximately pounds. But, the difference when it came to fat gain was more pronounced. While the moderate calorie group lost 2 pounds of fat, the extreme calorie group gained 2 pounds of fat! This tells us that while extra calories can be anabolic, there is a ceiling for their positive effects.
Past this ceiling, excess calories will be stored as fat. The result is that it will take you longer to cut down, and when you do that, it will cost more muscle tissue from catabolic breakdown. That alone is enough to ensure you add muscle.
However, if you want to accelerate this process, then consuming calories above that needed to maintain weight can be advantageous—to a point. There is a limit to the potential anabolic effects of overfeeding, after which you aren't gaining any more muscle, but only fat. Our study suggests that any overfeed should probably be no more than extra calories per day.
Further, keeping your bulks shorter, in the range of days, will maximize muscle gains and minimize fat gains.
That way, extra calories come packaged alongside vitamins and minerals, and the body has a steady supply of amino acids for muscle building. When approaching a bulking phase, you first need to consider how much muscle mass you want to gain, how much time you have to do it, and what ratio of muscle-to-fat gain is acceptable to you.
After figuring out how many calories someone can eat per day without gaining or losing tracking your calorie intake for a week and then taking an average is one easy way to do it , bumping up daily calories by to each week, depending on how aggressive the bulker wants to be. You also have to perform the right kind of training. She recommends that heavy strength training combined with traditional bodybuilding workouts think: body-part split workouts with set-rep schemes of about 3X10 make up the majority of your training, with high-intensity interval training to help lower the amount of weight you gain from fat while bulking.
She recommends spending little, if any, time performing low-intensity cardio like jogging and cycling during a bulk since it will likely not encourage muscle growth, but it will downsize whatever caloric surplus you have that could go to building muscle. No calories wasted.
On top of Smith-Ryan's advice, another aspect that is typically overlooked when bulking is recovery. As we're putting our bodies into environments that are more conducive for adding muscle mass, a. If you can dial in our training, nutrition, and recovery, then we'll be far better suited to pack on muscle mass per the means you're likely going for, which is accumulating lean mass over prolonged periods of time.
United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Bodybuilders take supplements for various reasons, including to boost overall health, immune function, and exercise performance 19 , 2. Still, despite the hundreds of supplements marketed toward bodybuilders, only a handful have strong evidence to support their use.
Those backed by studies include 20 , 21 :. They come in powder form and are mixed with water or milk. These supplements can pack over 1, calories per serving and boast sugar, protein, and several vitamins and minerals. When bulking, be sure to include a variety of nutrient-dense foods in your diet to support muscle growth and overall health. You should limit alcohol, added sugars, and fried foods, though certain supplements can be useful. Bulking is a technique used by bodybuilders to increase muscle size and strength.
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Here are a few suggestions you can try to start…. But here are some things to think about before you…. A 2,calorie diet is considered standard, but depending on your activity level, body size, and goals, you may need more.
This article discusses a 3,. Fish oil is a popular supplement that many people take for heart health, but you may have heard that it also benefits bodybuilding. This article tells…. There are several dietary supplements that can help increase muscle mass and strength. Here are the 6 best supplements to gain more muscle. Losing or maintaining weight can be challenging, especially with so many tasty food options available.
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